This webinar was the second in the CEO Council’s three-part educational series for emerging cell and gene therapy companies

On July 16, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s regional CEO Council for Growth (CEO Council), in partnership with IntegriChain, hosted a webinar on Contracting Implications for Cell & Gene Therapies in the Government & Commercial Channels. The virtual event was presented by IntegriChain consultants Jeffrey Baab, Executive Director, Advisory Services, and Josef Magpantay, Director, Advisory Services.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, IntegriChain is a CEO Council member that provides patient and payer data analytics and advisory services to manufacturers across the globe.

The hour-long webinar was the second in a complimentary three-part series focused on topics relevant to emerging cell and gene therapy companies. The first webinar in the series was hosted on June 25. Zoom recordings of the June 25 and July 16 webinars are available below for those who were unable to attend live.

During the contracting implications webinar, Baab and Magpantay provided an overview of government and commercial market channels that impact emerging companies and covered related topics, including market access challenges, solutions and payer perspectives, operational implications and value-based purchasing scenarios.

“We wanted to highlight some of the key and really urgent challenges that many cell and gene therapies face when trying to bring a new cutting-edge technology to market,” said Baab.

As a curative treatment with potentially high upfront costs, cell and gene therapies often struggle to get payer support for patient distribution. Baab said that cell and gene therapies do not typically fit within current reimbursement code structures. It’s often difficult for companies to obtain new codes, so stakeholders must find creative solutions to reimbursement challenges.

According to IntegriChain’s research, payers favor risk-based contracts as a viable solution for financing cell and gene therapies moving forward.

Magpantay then gave an overview of cell and gene therapy contracting models. He highlighted the commercial and governmental considerations of traditional annuity payment and outcomes rebate models. Magpantay also emphasized the importance of balancing financial responsibility among stakeholders when creating contracting models.

Baab closed out the presentation with a case study on a cutting-edge cell and gene therapy whose discovery has roots in the Greater Philadelphia region. Zolgensma, a therapy that treats spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in children was developed by Avexis and commercialized by Novartis. Zolgensma has since negotiated an exclusive partnership with specialty pharmacy Accredo.

“This is a perfect example of a lot of the different elements that we’re talking about coming together,” said Baab. “Working beyond just the current system… to ensure that patients get these therapies in a timely way.”

There is one event remaining in the series: Gross-to-Net Launch Readiness for Cell & Gene Therapies. The webinar will be held at 1 p.m. EST on August 20 and will focus on mission-critical gross-to-net systems and forecasting activities for cell and gene therapy companies planning for commercial launch.

To register, visit integrichain.com/webinar-series-for-emerging-cell-gene-therapies-companies/.

Watch a recording of the webinar on Contracting Implications for Cell & Gene Therapies in the Government & Commercial Channels here (password: [email protected]).

To watch the recording of the June 25 webinar on Launch Readiness for Cell & Gene Therapies in the Government & Commercial Channels, click here (password: IntegriChain#20200625).

ABOUT INTEGRICHAIN

IntegriChain delivers Life Sciences’ only comprehensive data and business process platform for market access. More than 220 manufacturers rely on IntegriChain’s analytics, applications, managed services and expert advisors to power their market access operations and harness the value of their channel, patient and payer data. IntegriChain is backed by Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley technology private equity firm. The company is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Ambler, PA; Somerset, NJ, Raleigh, NC, and Pune, India. For more information, visit integrichain.com, or follow us on Twitter @IntegriChain and LinkedIn.